Comments on: Open Office On A Stick http://gigaom.com/2006/01/04/open-office-on-a-stick/ Sat, 11 Feb 2012 11:20:45 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: John T, Haller http://gigaom.com/2006/01/04/open-office-on-a-stick/#comment-112730 Mon, 09 Jan 2006 17:50:49 +0000 http://gigaom.wordpress.com/2006/01/04/open-office-on-a-stick/#comment-112730 You can get OpenOffice.org to be portable if you have a U3 drive:
http://software.u3.com/Product_Details.aspx?ProductId=109

Or for any drive (thumbdrive, iPod, portable hard drive):
http://portableapps.com/apps/office/suites/portable_openoffice

]]> By: Mathew Ingram http://gigaom.com/2006/01/04/open-office-on-a-stick/#comment-112729 Thu, 05 Jan 2006 16:30:51 +0000 http://gigaom.wordpress.com/2006/01/04/open-office-on-a-stick/#comment-112729 That’s a fair point, and I thought the same thing — that there is some value to bundling things and making it easy for non-techies. But then I wondered how many non-geeks would be likely to feel comfortable using a USB key and various bundled apps in the first place. In other words, it might be a chicken-and-egg problem, where you need a certain level of geekness (geek-itude?) to appreciate the device, which then means you’re less likely to want it, if you know what I mean.

]]> By: Om Malik http://gigaom.com/2006/01/04/open-office-on-a-stick/#comment-112728 Thu, 05 Jan 2006 01:23:43 +0000 http://gigaom.wordpress.com/2006/01/04/open-office-on-a-stick/#comment-112728 i agree, that most of the apps are available for free, and U3 really is doing nothing more than make it easier to use for a tiny fee, which actually doesn’t really raise the price of the final product that much. so perhaps that’s why I think for a mass market it is not such a bad product. i am thinking non-geeks especially in places where many people use a single machine. like cyber cafes in places like india.

]]> By: Mathew Ingram http://gigaom.com/2006/01/04/open-office-on-a-stick/#comment-112727 Thu, 05 Jan 2006 01:19:57 +0000 http://gigaom.wordpress.com/2006/01/04/open-office-on-a-stick/#comment-112727 I’d have to agree with Jesse and Eric — I’ve used a U3 drive, and while it’s cool to have a menu of what’s on the stick and some apps bundled, most of them (or something similar) can be downloaded for free, so I’m not sure I see the point. The PC bundled with AOL analogy is a good one.

]]> By: Scott Rafer http://gigaom.com/2006/01/04/open-office-on-a-stick/#comment-112726 Thu, 05 Jan 2006 01:11:37 +0000 http://gigaom.wordpress.com/2006/01/04/open-office-on-a-stick/#comment-112726 I tend to like the model these guys ( http://stickydrive.com/ ) are starting to pursue. It’s stick-specific functionality (not just generic apps) you can download onto any stick you choose.

]]> By: Jesse Kopelman http://gigaom.com/2006/01/04/open-office-on-a-stick/#comment-112725 Wed, 04 Jan 2006 22:40:03 +0000 http://gigaom.wordpress.com/2006/01/04/open-office-on-a-stick/#comment-112725 I’m with Eric here. This benefits U3 clearly, but how does it help the consumer get bundled programs that are already free for download? This is like how a consumer PC comes with AOL or MSN pre-installed. Now if the U3 drives are actually cheaper, thanks to incentives from the software guys, I’m down with that.

]]> By: Om Malik http://gigaom.com/2006/01/04/open-office-on-a-stick/#comment-112724 Wed, 04 Jan 2006 21:30:09 +0000 http://gigaom.wordpress.com/2006/01/04/open-office-on-a-stick/#comment-112724 i don’t think that is the case. i think there are some drives that are u3 powered. most of the usb drives are still sold as they are… blank

]]> By: Eric Brandel http://gigaom.com/2006/01/04/open-office-on-a-stick/#comment-112723 Wed, 04 Jan 2006 21:09:39 +0000 http://gigaom.wordpress.com/2006/01/04/open-office-on-a-stick/#comment-112723 Perhaps I’m confused. What I had infered was that the next time I went to Best Buy or Circuit City (or, more likely newegg.com) and bought a USB thumbdrive that it was going to be loaded with a bunch of software.

]]> By: Om Malik http://gigaom.com/2006/01/04/open-office-on-a-stick/#comment-112722 Wed, 04 Jan 2006 20:43:13 +0000 http://gigaom.wordpress.com/2006/01/04/open-office-on-a-stick/#comment-112722 eric, not sure i am understanding the point you are making. you are saying that, that you don’t want the drives with anything on it? i think those you can buy for a lot cheaper; and this is clearly a different market opportunity

]]> By: Eric Brandel http://gigaom.com/2006/01/04/open-office-on-a-stick/#comment-112721 Wed, 04 Jan 2006 20:38:48 +0000 http://gigaom.wordpress.com/2006/01/04/open-office-on-a-stick/#comment-112721 I can’t decide if this is just a minor annoyance or if it feels like I’m paying for advertising. Either way, I’d prefer to have my USB thumdrives empty.

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